Firearms are barreled weapons that launch projectiles, often driven by the action of an explosive force. Firearms are often categorized by the type of action employed. For example, the type of action may include one or more of bolt action, pump action, lever arm action, single shot action, semi-automatic action and automatic action.
A semi-automatic, or self-loading, firearm is one of the most popular firearms in the United States. A semi-automatic firearm performs all steps necessary to prepare it to discharge again after firing—assuming cartridges remain in the firearm's feed device. Typically, this includes extracting and ejecting the spent cartridge case from the firing chamber, re-cocking the firing mechanism, and loading a new cartridge into the firing chamber.
Most governments across the world regulate the firearms for civilian use. The regulations may include firearm safety and storage; penalties for the unlawful possession and misuse of firearms; a licensing system to prevent undesirable persons from owning firearms; exemption from criminal liability to promote the surrender by citizens of illegal, unsafe or unwanted guns; and, a record-keeping system to track civilian firearms.
The regulation regarding firearm safety may place restrictions on the firearm design. For example, various state legislatures in the US are limiting the use of semi-automatic firearms. One such restriction targets AR-15 (a popular semi-automatic firearm) users by making it more difficult for them to change magazines. Conventionally, an unrestricted user of the AR-15 rifle may press a magazine release button on the firearm to change magazines. The release button drops the magazine out of the gun, and allows the user to input a new one. To comply with various state restrictions, AR-15 owners have installed a bullet button and can thereby be considered to otherwise convert a “detachable magazine weapon” to a “fixed magazine weapon,” thus making it no longer applicable to the regulations.
Further, new laws in some states may render the use bullet button as insufficient restriction. For example, in California, beginning in January 2017, yet further restrictions leave all current AR-15 owners with a few options—They may register the firearm as an assault weapon with the state; install a device that requires an AR-15 user to disassemble the firearm prior to being able to change the magazine; or they may remove the device from the state. A per the new laws, new firearms sold in California would must come with modifications to meet these new requirements already pre-installed. Moreover, the existing owners of AR-15 cannot use their firearms without making required modifications, nor can they possess an unregistered or unmodified weapon in restrictive states.
Accordingly, it is desirable to modify the design of the firearm such that it reduces user's effort while changing magazines and at the same time abides by the new laws.